The Many Faces of Love
by SneakySneasel
Summary: There are many kinds of love out there, and Radiator Springs is about to experience a good amount of them. LightningSally, SheriffOC, and OCxOC parings.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: There are many kinds of love out there, and most of them are discovered in Radiator Springs. (LightningSally and SheriffOC, minor RamoneFlo, and OCxOC parings)

A/N: Hello, all. Normally I write Mario and Pokemon fan fictions, but now I feel like writing a Cars one. Why? Because I feel like it, darn it. Until then, I won't be writing any chapters to any of my other stories, so please don't ask. Anyway, enjoy and review.

The Many Kinds of Love: By SneakySneasel

Chapter One: Invited

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"She's WHAT?" shouted an almost furious Ramone. The shout turned many a head in the small hospital, even some of the patients wondered what was going on.

"Pregnant," the doctor answered as if he had been asked that question a million times, and perhaps he had.

Now I know what you are thinking; "Ramone, pregnant?" No. Flo is though. Either way, Ramone was pretty surprised, to say the least. Flo had been feeling uncomfortable at times for the past several months, but according to Doc Hudson, there was nothing wrong with her. Boy was he wrong…ish, though it was Doc who told the two of them to go to Flagstaff to find an actual hospital instead of Doc's small office place.

"This is...is…," Ramone was at a loss for words, which is common in this kind of situation.

"I understand what's going through you mind; I have three daughters myself," the doctor said.

Ramone wasn't paying any attention to him though. He was too busy thinking. Was it a boy or a girl? What about names? This whole parenthood thing seemed insane to him. After all, he'd be the first parent in Radiator Springs (A/N: Sorry, Doc has no 'secret' daughter in this story. Deal with it.), so no one would be able to help him out.

"How…how long until…"

"She delivers? I'd say about three months at the latest."

"Three months?! You mean she's been pregnant for half a year already?" Ramone was normally cool, calm, and collected, but now he was a nervous wreck (A/N: Get it? Wreck? You're supposed to laugh people), and he wasn't even an official parent yet.

"It appears so. We even determined the gender of it."

"...Really?"

"Yeah."

"So…?"

"Oh, right. It's going to be a…"

"A what?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Y-yes. I'm sure. I might as well know."

"Ok then; it's a boy."

"Ok then. Thanks doctor; is that all?"

"For now, yes, but I do expect you two back soon."

Ramone just nodded and left the office. He headed down the short hallway back to the doctoring room place.

"So?" Flo simply asked.

"Apparently," Ramone did his best imitation of the doctor, "you're pregnant."

"Man, I already knew that," Flo said in her sassy tone. Women usually knew certain things about them, like when they were three months away from having a baby. "Come on honey; let's get back to Radiator Springs. I probably shouldn't been driving too much now."

"Wait a second. Don't you want to know?"

"Know what?"

"If it's a boy or girl."

"Why don't we just let that be a surprise?"

"Yeah, but..." it was too late. Flo was already off, with Ramone trailing behind her. As they went down the hallway, Ramone did a double take in the direction of the waiting room, making sure he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing.

It was none other than Strip Weathers, aka The King, by himself no less.

"But what's The King doing in a small hospital like this? What's he doing in a hospital at all," Ramone thought. He contemplated going up to him and talking to him, but soon shrugged it off.

"Hey, you. Come over here," Strip said to Ramone.

"Who, me?"

Strip nodded, and Ramone came over. "Aren't you part of Lightning's pit crew?

"Yeah, but how do you know that?" (A/N: The only cars who I know weren't there were Sally, Red, and Lizzie, so I'm assuming he was there.)

It turned out Ramone happened to be wearing the same coat of paint when he was at the tiebreaker race three weeks ago. How convenient.

"Guess I never forget a face, but that's beside the point. I need you to do me a favor," Strip paused for a moment to get out three envelopes. "These are invitations for my retirement party. You think you could deliver these to Lightning and his crew chief?"

Ramone took the invitations, "Oh, absolutely. I'll make sure they get them."

"Thanks."

"No problem," said Ramone as he drove off, already well behind Flo. "Man, talk about a rare encounter."

A few moments later, they were back together driving back to Radiator Springs.

"What took you so long?" Flo asked, concerned. "For a minute I thought I lost you back there."

"You won't believe who I was talking to back in the hospital. It was The King"

"The King? Yeah, right. And I'm-"

"I'm serious, girl. He asked if I knew Lightning, I said yes, and then he gave me these," Ramone stated, showing her the invitations. "He told me to give these to Lighting and Doc."

"Alright, if you say so." After a couple hours of driving, they arrived at Radiator Springs in the afternoon.

After the whole "Lightning's missing" fiasco, Radiator Springs was put back on the map, and more cars were driving on the old Route 66 like the old days. During the day, plenty of them would stop by, maybe get a new pair of tires or a bumper sticker, stop for gas, and then drive off. Nighttime was a different story though; only the original "gang" would be there, but sometimes one or two would stay the night at the Cozy Cone, but that was rare. Not sure why this random explanation of things is here.

"So, who are we telling first?" Flo asked.

"Tell wut?" questioned an all too familiar rusty tow truck who seemingly came out of nowhere.

Flo and Ramone gasped and jumped forwards a few feet. "Mater!" they both shouted. "Don't scare us like that!"

"Sorry," Mater mumbled, looking down at the ground, but immediately lifted his head back up and asked, "How was the doctor? What's the die-ig-nosis?"

"Um…well, Mater…you see, Flo is…," Ramone stopped for a second, and then blurted it out, "She's pregnant." Flo just rolled her eyes, thinking he was being way too overdramatic.

"Aw, that's nice," Mater replied, smiling. A few seconds passed…

"She's WUT?!"

Good ol' Mater.

Anyway, the commotion turned some heads, just like back in the hospital. Instinctively, Sheriff was the first to arrive at the scene. In such a small town, the Sheriff didn't need long to arrive on a scene.

"What's going on around here?" Sheriff asked in his usual gruff voice.

Mater slowly wheeled up to Sheriff, and whispered near him, "Flo's P-R-E-uh…something, something, something-B."

Sheriff just shook his head. Like he (or anyone else for that matter) knew what Mater meant. He chose to ask someone he could trust a bit more…and spell a bit better.

"Ramone, what happened? I heard Mater scream, although he screams at a lot of things," at this point, Mater kind of blushed a bit, "so I came over a fast as I could."

"Eh, it's nothing," Ramone stated, looking a bit nervous, "It's no big deal, really. Mater's just being…Mater."

"Why are you two making such a big deal out of this?" Flo questioned to Ramone and Mater. "Sheriff, I'm pregnant."

Sheriff was just as stunned as the other two guys. "Oh…ohh," he cleared his throat, "Um, congratulations. Now if you'll excuse me," he turned around, "I have some…things to do," and with that, Sheriff left.

Flo sighed, "You guys are way too high-strung. Now if you'll excuse me, I got me a restaurant to run and hungry customers to feed." Flo left, leaving Ramone and Mater by themselves.

"Oh yeah! I gotta give these to Lighting and Doc," Ramone said, holding the invites.

"Wut 'er those?"

"Invitations to some party. While we were at the hospital, I ran into The King, and he told me to give these to them."

"You ran into da King?"

"Yeah. Not sure what he was doing there, but he was there. Good to know he's all better after that nasty crash. Anyway, have you seen them?"

"Uh…yeah. I think 'dey're at Willie's Bluff, training or somethin'."

"Thanks." And so, Ramone left to go to Willie's Bluff (A/N: Tell me if I'm wrong about it being called that.)

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Ramone arrived at Willie's Bluff, with Mater close behind even though Ramone told him not to follow him earlier.

Lightning was going around the bluff, practicing, with Doc telling him what and what not to do. This went on for about half an hour, until Doc told him to take a short break. That's when Ramone made his move.

"Hey! You guys got a minute?" he asked the two of them.

"Yeah, sure," Lightning answered.

"Yeah. Need anything, Ramone?" Doc responded.

"I have something I gotta give you," he took out the invitations. "You won't believe who I ran into back at the hospital."

"Who did you-", Lightning started to say, but was cut off by Mater.

"Da King!"

"Mater? The King? Are you serious?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah. He told me to give those to you for some party."

"A retirement party," Doc said, reading the letter, "which happens to be a part of the awards ceremony. It's in three nights in L.A. We're going to need to leave early tomorrow if we're going to make it on time."

"Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time I needed to hurry to L.A.," Lightning stated, thinking back when he was in a major hurry to get to the L.A. Speedway for the tiebreaker race.

"Hold on a second," Doc mumbled. "I got two invitations. How many did you get, Lightning?"

"Just one."

"Guess he gave me three, but why?" Ramone wondered.

"So what are we supposed to do with this extra invitation?" Lightning asked.

"I'm not going to do anything with it."

"So you're just going to pretend it doesn't exist?"

"Pretty much."

"Aw, come on Doc. We have it; we might as well use it. We could give it to-"

"No. This invitation is for someone else, so when we get there, we check the list, and give it to whoever was supposed to get it. I'm sure they'll be there looking for it."

"Fine, fine. Relax. Alright, whatever you say."

"Hey, Lightnin'! Hey Lightnin'!" Mater called out. At this time, Ramone had already left and returned to his "House of Body Art".

"Yeah Mater?"

"Guess wut happened ta' Flo!" Mater said, rolling down the hill towards Doc and Lightning.

"I don't know."

"Come on, guess!"

"Um…ok I give up."

"She's P-R-E-uh…J-something, something, X, Q."

"Can't you ever just say it?" Lightning asked.

"You're going to have to tell him later, Mater," Doc interjected. "Break's over, kid. Come on; we still have a lot of work to do to get you ready for next season."

"Sorry, Mater. Hey, you can tell me tonight. I'll meet ya at Flo's café tonight."

"Sure thing, buddy," Mater said happily, and soon left to do whatever Mater does at this time. Who knows?

Doc and Lightning soon got back to training, but questions kept filling Lightning's mind. Why was there an extra invitation? What happened to Flo? If the Greeks invented yogurt, why did they give it a Turkish name? He thought about the possible answers to them as the sun started sinking lower over the horizon.

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That's the end of chapter 1! Yay! Please read and review, or I'll cry. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some sleep to catch, bye! Fwee, etc.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah, one chapter down, another…who knows how many to go. Thanks for taking the time to read this story and stuff, and enjoy. Oh yeah, disclaimer; Cars is a product of Disney/Pixar, as are its characters, locations, events, etc. Some characters and such are of my own creation, and that's good enough for me. Anyway, as Mario would say, "Here we go!"

The Many Faces of Love: by SneakySneasel

Chapter Two: One Arrival, One Departure

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It was just past sunset over at Flo's Café. The neon lights of the various buildings were unfortunately for naught, since nobody seemed to be coming that night. Even the Cozy Cone was completely vacant, but all this didn't seem to bother the residents of Radiator Springs; they were used to nights like this. After all, all nights were like this until Lightning tore up the town…literally.

Just about everyone was down at the café, either having a late dinner or early dessert. On cold December nights like these, it was best to be in the warmth and comfort of your friends, especially if you don't come with your own heater. The cars were having a conversation and mostly just having a good time.

"And then the Norwegian model says, 'If he's not a Chevy, then he must a Fjord!'" Lightning finished telling a joke, to which the others laughed or chuckled to.

After a bit more joke telling, Lightning became a little concerned, "Where's Mater? He's the one who told me to meet him here."

"I heard him say he went out for a quick drive or something," Sally answered. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"That's all? Alright," Lightning responded.

Another half hour passed, and Lightning grew more concerned, as did everyone else.

"You don't think he forgot, did he?" Lightning asked.

"It's possible…" Sally said, becoming a little less optimistic as well. Suddenly, they heard a voice coming from the distance. No one could tell if it was Mater since it was too far away. A few moments passed, and the sound got clearer and louder, but it wasn't Mater.

"Can you go any faster?" the voice, which now recognizable as female, said. She was obviously disgruntled. "I've seen station wagons move quicker than you!"

Finally, Mater came into view. It looked like he was towing someone.

"Hey Mater!" Lightning shouted. "Where have you been?"

"I was jus' driving', mindin' my own business, when I meet this girl, you see. She's outta gas, so I gotta tow 'er in," Mater shouted back over the loud complaining of whoever he was towing. Once he was at the café, everyone got a good look at who Mater was towing. Everyone was shocked and stunned; even Doc was a little surprised.

It was a police car. Mater unlatched her and went over next to Lightning. Everyone was staring at the female police car, so that's Mater did too, although he overdid it a little.

"Jeez, you all look like you never seen a police car before," she said with a whole lot of attitude, "and by the look of it," she gestured to Sheriff, "you have. Anyway, can you fill me up? I'm hot on the trail of four dangerous wanted criminals for crying out loud!"

"Alright girl, cool down," Flo said as she started filling the police car with gas…lots of gas.

Sheriff opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Lightning, "So…you have a name?"

"Shirley. Interstate Patrol," she answered.

"Interstate Patrol?" Sheriff asked. He looked a little red around the face, but no one seemed to notice.

"Yeah. There's been a huge increase of crime on the interstate around here, and I'm trying to put a stop to it. It's been all over the news; shouldn't you have heard of it?"

"N-no…I didn't," Sheriff stuttered.

"Guess that's why you're stationed in such a small town," she mumbled, making sure Sheriff didn't hear that insult. It was in police code not to insult a fellow police car, no matter how incompetent he or she was, not that Sheriff was.

"Done," Flo simply said. "You're free to go…and please go," she mumbled that last part.

"Thank you." Shirley started to go, but her engine started sputtering, and she could barely move.

Doc, with a look of curiosity on his face, wheeled over to Shirley, "Looks like you needed more than just gas. You seem have some engine trouble. Shouldn't be too long of an operation…"

"Operation?! Are you crazy?"

"No, but I am a doctor, so you should be just fine. It's too late to do it tonight. I suggest you stay the night over at the Cozy Cone, and then to my office first thing tomorrow morning."

Shirley sighed. She knew this was the only option. "Fine," she said defeated. "Man, how am I supposed to catch 'em now?"

"Have Mater tow you there. We don't want your engine getting in any worse shape."

"Anything else?"

"Nope, that's just about it. Have a good night," and with that, Doc left to go home and sleep.

Mater immediately grabbed Shirley, and towed her over towards the Cozy Cone. Sally followed, since she owned the place, and needed to make the stay all official like. Most everyone else continued their conversations from earlier.

"Guess Mater won't get to tell me whatever he was going to tell me after all," Lightning thought.

Sheriff went behind the café, shaking like a leaf. Lightning noticed this and followed him.

Behind the café, Sheriff was breathing heavily. Lightning said, "Hey.", which made Sheriff jump.

"You alright? You're shaking like crazy."

"Yeah…I'm alright."

"You like her, don't you?"

"What?! Who?"

"Shirley."

"What in the world are you blabbering talking about?" Sheriff questioned defensively.

"Oh come on, Sheriff; your face is redder than I am."

Sheriff couldn't hide that fact. "Yeah…but…alright, I admit it. I like her, but I know she doesn't like me back, so what's the point?"

"How do you know she doesn't like you back?"

"Because she doesn't even know who I am, and I can't even look at her without getting all nervous and red."

"I could help you out."

"Say what?"

"What? The ladies are constantly swooning over me. I'm a natural matchmaker."

"No, no, and no. Besides, she'll be gone by tomorrow."

"This is why you need to win her by then."

Sheriff was speechless. For once, Lightning was right. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Sheriff nodded, and Lightning started talking about how to win Shirley over.

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It was the next morning, and the usual was going on. At 7 a.m. both Sarge and Fillmore were the first to wake up, and would wake up most everyone else with their usual "Reveille/Hendrix" argument.

With cars actually passing by the town now, all the shops opened up much earlier. By 9 a.m., all the shops were open, except for one: Luigi's Casa Della Tires, and neither Luigi nor Guido had woken up.

Everyone else was busy with business, and Doc was operating on Shirley, so Lightning was the first to notice the tire shop closed.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Lightning called up, face only inches from the doorway. He pushed the door, and, to his surprise, swung open. He inched forward once he was inside.

"Luigi? Guido? Anyone?" Lightning kept calling out while still moving forward. "Come on guys; wake…," he stopped mid-sentence hearing someone sobbing not too far away, "up?" Lightning followed the sound to a door that was slightly ajar. He peered though the crack, and saw that it was Luigi crying. Without thinking, Lightning opened the door completely, scaring Luigi.

"Sorry about that…but I was just wondering why you haven't opened yet. There's a line at the front of your store," he lied.

Luigi said or did nothing. His sobs stopped for a moment, and showed Lightning a letter that Luigi was reading.

Lightning took a quick peek at it, not saying a word. "Luigi…I can't read this. It's in--"

Luigi burst into tears before Lightning could finish. This continued for a few minutes because Lightning didn't want to say anything to him; he didn't want to upset him. But what was he so upset about in the first place?

"Gone…gone…he's gone!"

"Who's gone?"

"…Guido."

"Guido's…gone?"

"You mean gone…as is…" Lightning couldn't manage to finish.

"He's-a gone! Just up and left without a word last-a night when everyone was-a sleeping! Who knows where he went! Who knows when he'll be back!" Luigi returned to his bawling.

Lightning just stood there, stunned. Why would the little blue forklift just leave Radiator Springs?

"Luigi…I'm so sorry," he said solemnly, but quickly changed his tone, "but I swear…I will do all I can to help find him, wherever he is."

"After the retirement party…" Lightning thought bitterly to himself. It was something he couldn't miss, even for Guido. Perhaps he'd find him on the way there.

"Maybe he's still in the town…"

"He's not," Luigi finally stopped crying and managed to pull himself together. "The note (which is obviously in Italian) said he was going far away, and that he said he won't-a be back for a long time."

"So…he'll be back?"

"Maybe…but it's-a big world out there for a little guy like him. How is he going to survive?"

"I don't know," Lightning said, trying to erase his mind of any possibility of Guido getting hurt. "But we need to get the word out, form a search party, do isomething/i."

Luigi nodded slowly, a blank expression was on his face. "I won't be able to run-a the shop without him. Who will change the tires?"

"I'm sorry Luigi, but I can't help you with that…"

"Don't-a worry. I think I can do it by myself, at least until he comes back…"

Lightning just nodded and left the room and the store. He and Doc had a party to go to, and nothing could change that, but he needed to stop somewhere first. Actually, he had to stop at two places.

First stop: Doc's place. This was Phase One of Operation: Get Sally to Come to the Party. Don't blame me; Lightning came up with the name.

He snuck around the back, hoping to find one of the invitations Doc possessed. Doc was still operating, but he was almost finished.

"Aha! Found 'em!" Lightning shouted a bit too loud. Doc didn't seem to hear. Quickly, he took one, and replaced it with a decoy he made late last night.

"Now for Phase Two," he muttered. "Give this to Sally and I'm home free."

Sally was flipping through a recent copy of "Cars" magazine (A/N: Equivalent to "People" magazine.)

"Ka-chow!" Lightning exclaimed as he put his lucky sticker into the sunlight, causing it to reflect onto Sally.

It didn't even faze her. "Hey, Stickers."

"But…the sticker…and the shiny…and…"

"You get used to it. So, how's it going?"

"Um, well…Guido," Lightning contemplated telling her the news.

"Guido what?" she asked, looking a bit worried.

"Guido…says hi." Lightning said behind false happiness.

"Oh…um, ok. Tell him I said hi back."

"Will do…anyway, I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes."

Sally did so, and Lightning put the invitation he stole from Doc on the front desk in front of her.

"Ok, open 'em."

Sally opened her eyes, and was surprised at the invitation. "But, Doc said…"

"He changed his mind. He said that if they lost the invite, they wouldn't even show up in the first place."

"Hmm…alright. I'll go."

"Great! Doc's almost done, so we can go in…"

"Wait."

"What's the matter?"

"I can't just leave the Cozy Cone unattended."

Lightning hadn't thought of that. He wasn't going to let his plan die off just like that, but he needed to come up with something quick.

Meanwhile, Doc had just finished operating on Shirley, and it was a complete success.

"Thank you, Mr. Hudson. How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, free of charge. Always happy to help out the folks in blue."

"Right, thank you. Well, I best be on my way, even though I lost four wanted criminals. Hey Doc, could you show me around town? It seems like a pretty nice place."

Doc was taken aback by the sudden question. "Uh…sure. I don't have much time though; Lightning and I are going to a party in L.A."

"Don't you think you're a little too old for an L.A. party?"

The two of them drove off. Doc told Shirley all about the meeting at the hospital and the invitations while he showed her around the town. His second-to-last stop was Luigi's Casa Della Tires, which was still closed.

"Has this place always been closed?" Shirley asked.

"No…it should be open like all the other shops," Doc opened the door, surprised it was unlocked. The two of them drove in and looked around. As Lightning did, they heard Luigi sobbing in his room. Suddenly he stopped.

"I have a store to run," he mumbled as he opened the door. Once again, he was scared.

Doc was about to say something, but Luigi immediately spilled the beans about Guido leaving, unable to hold it in any longer.

"What?!" Doc and Shirley shouted.

"I have to tell Lightning this." Doc said. He raced off outside, frantically searching for him.

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Lightning and Sally were just outside the Cozy Cone, talking and laughing about stuff, when Doc and Shirley came out of nowhere and stopped right in front of them.

"We have a 441-789.3!" Shirley said, obviously in police mode.

"And that means…?" Lightning questioned.

"Guido's gone missing!" Doc shouted.

"What?!" Sally and Lightning both screamed. Lightning had to fake it since he already knew.

"That's…terrible," Sally murmured.

"I'm staying." Shirley suddenly said.

"Wait, what?" Lightning said, confused as heck.

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A/N: That's Chapter 2. Raises a lot of questions, doesn't it? Where's Guido? Will they go to the party? Why is Shirley staying? What would you do for a Klondike bar? Find out on the next chapter! Read and review please! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to cry; just saw The Fox and The Hound on Disney on Tuesday, and it still gets me to this very day.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I hope people are actually watching this. I'm staying up past midnight every night typing this story (and doing homework, and playing video games, and listening to the radio…). But I digress; here's Chapter 3.

The Many Faces of Love: by SneakySneasel

Chapter Three: The New Face of Dinoco

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"Look, this…Guido goes missing at the same time and general area where the criminals I'm after are. They must've taken him as a hostage."

"Whoa…hold on a minute," Lightning interjected. "Isn't that jumping to conclusions a little bit? I mean…it's not possible. Luigi said Guido ran away, so there's no way he was kidnapped."

"And how do you know that? He told you to tell him that he said 'Hi.' and that was it…did I get that right?"

The other three cars nodded.

Lightning sighed. Obviously he was lying, and everyone knew it. Doc shot him a look of dissatisfaction.

"I was going to tell you…but I didn't have the heart. That's why I lied at the last minute. I didn't want to worry you first thing in the morning…" Lightning said disappointedly.

Sally sighed, "It's ok, Stickers. That's not important right now. What's important now is that we find him; wherever he went."

"But that's the problem! We have no clue where he went," Lightning spat out. "I mean, there are no clues or anything as to what happened."

"That's exactly why I'm staying here. I'm a police officer, surely I can solve this," Shirley said with confidence.

"Now don't get too full of yourself," Doc stated. "You can stay here and looks for clues, but don't get too full of yourself. That's what happened to Lightning, and that's why he didn't win the Piston Cup," he finished, slightly amused how she kind of reminded him of Sheriff when Doc had first arrived in Radiator Springs himself.

"Yeah, but if I had won, neither I nor Shirley would be here, and Guido wouldn't be missing," Lightning countered.

Suddenly, an idea struck Lightning, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"Sally, Shirley, can I speak with the two of you in private, if Doc doesn't mind."

"Sure, go ahead kid," Doc said, uncertain why he couldn't discuss whatever he wanted to discuss with him.

"Alright," the two girls said, and they followed Lightning behind the Cozy Cone. Once behind it, Lightning cleared his throat.

"Ok, let's get straight to the point. Sally, you want to go to the party with us, right?"

"Yeah."

"And Shirley, you want to stay here and help find Guido, right?"

"Of course."

"Then have Shirley run the Cozy Cone, and Sally come with us."

"Lightning…that may be…the best idea you ever came up with, which is saying a lot," Sally sort of complimented. "Let's do it."

The three of them went back to the front to find that Sheriff had joined Doc and were discussing the Guido missing situation.

"Oh hey Sheriff," Sally greeted.

Sheriff didn't say a word. He was too busy staring at Shirley, and was too nervous to say anything.

Lightning mouthed the word "Relax," and Sheriff nodded slowly.

"Hey everybody!" Sheriff suddenly said, perhaps a bit too uppity.

Everyone stared at him, while Lightning tire-palmed his forehood.

"Um…ahem, if you need me, I'll be looking for clues…on the other side of town." Sheriff immediately left, zooming off away from the small group or cars.

"Is he always like that?" Shirley asked.

"Only when he's in love apparently…" Lightning muttered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing!"

The four cars discussed what the plan was. Lightning would go to the party with Doc, and Sally would tail about ten minutes behind; this part was unknown to anyone but Lightning, as he never told anyone but Sally, and he told her that he and Doc would talk about racing strategies, and didn't want Sally to be bored to death.

Shirley would assume command of the Cozy Cone, and when she had time, she would search around town, maybe even past town a bit, for any clue as to where Guido might have gone to.

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"Alright everyone, take care!" Sally called out as the entire town waved goodbye. Doc and Lightning had already left about fifteen minutes ago. "Don't worry; I'll catch up to them in no time!" She was already over the horizon after she finished saying that.

The hours passed with little interference from traffic, since the two of them took the old Route 66. They talked about the how they thought the party would go and the recent turn of events.

"Hey Doc?"

"Yeah?"

"If the Greek invented yogurt, why did they give it a Turkish name?"

"Kid…that's just one of the many mysteries on this here Earth."

Well, close enough.

Sally was closing in on them, wondering how this whole party/ceremony thing would turn out. "Think of all the celebrities that will be there, maybe even Leonardo de Carprio will be there." She started reminiscing of when she was a teenager, and that she and all her girlfriends had a massive crush on him.

After a couple days of traveling, the three of them arrived at L.A. Sally was still a few minutes behind, like Lightning told her to do.

"Remember kid," said Doc at the night of the event. "We're leaving as soon as this ends."

"Yeah, yeah…relax. You're too uptight, you know that."

Doc just rolled his eyes as the two of them arrived at the front of the place where the events were taking place. Sally came up behind them a few minutes later.

"Sally? Sally! What the heck are you doing here?" Doc asked.

"Doc…you feeling ok? You said I could come, remember?"

"I don't remember even thinking about saying such a thing," Doc shouted over the crowd that finally noticed they were here. The paparazzi kept shooting pictures and asking questions, but with no response.

"But…you said…Lightning said…Lightning," Sally and Doc both gave Lightning a look that would split him in two. After a few moments, Lightning squealed.

"Ok, I admit it! I made a fake invitation and gave one of the real ones to Sally because I really wanted her to come!"

Doc was about to say something very inappropriate when the crowd vanished and swarmed around a familiar car: Strip Weathers.

"I'm about to settle this right now…" Doc grumbled.

"No, Doc, wait! She's here; she might as well go," Lightning pleaded.

Doc didn't bother dignifying that with a response, he drove through the crowd, honking his horn, looking about as ornery as he's even been in his life. The paparazzi were rudely pushed out of the way, angry that they were being pushed aside so easily.

Strip was curious as why there was a gap forming and getting closer to him. The last of the cars got out of the way and Doc was finally face to face with Mr. Weathers.

"Well if it isn't the Fabulous Hudson Hornet," Strip declared.

Doc, trying to hide his anger greeted Strip in a similar matter, and then said, "Can I please have a moment of your time.

"Sure, what do you need me for?"

"Just need to prove a young hothead wrong," Doc said, leading Strip towards Lightning and Sally.

"Howdy, Lightning," Strip greeted.

"Strip, tell Lightning how many invitations we were supposed to receive," Doc requested.

"Three," Strip simply stated.

"See Lightning? He only gave us…wait, what?"

"I gave your friend three invitations. Y'know, in case you wanted to bring a friend alone. Looks like you did," Strip said, gesturing towards Sally.

It took Lightning every fiber of his being not to laugh in Doc's face that Doc was wrong for perhaps the first time ever. Sally was just as surprised, and Doc seemed to just stare off in space.

"Well, come on then," Strip commanded, completely dubious to the situation. "The awards are about to start."

Doc, Lightning, and Sally showed their invitations to the front-gate guards and followed Strip in. Inside was a very large theater with a huge front stage. All the other cars were in their seats, and the four of them sat in their seats in the front row.

The awards ceremony went excellently. Plenty of popular singers were there, and plenty of awards were given. Lightning won "Rookie of the Year" and "Most Popular", and Doc got runner-up for "Crew Chief of the Year" even though he was only crew chief for one race. Strip's crew chief won the award.

Finally, after all the awards were distributed, Strip went up to the stage for the closing statement.

"First off, I would like to thank all of you for coming. Second, I'd like to thank the Dinoco company for such a great career. I wouldn't be here today without all of their help. Lastly, and definitely the most surprising news…as you all know, I'm officially retired and will need someone to carry the Dinoco torch."

"Oh no…" Lightning muttered. He had turned Dinoco down, which he thought meant that Chick Hicks would get it, even though he clearly didn't deserve it. (A/N: Who would name their son Chick? I kind of feel bad for him; he must've gotten beaten up a lot at school.) But if Chick didn't get the deal, then who did?

"I am proud to present the newest driver for Dinoco, runner up in this year's Italy I-A Series, (A/N: I-a means it's the most popular one, like how for NASCAR it's the Nextel Cup.) my son…Hank Weathers.

The crowd went silent. Strip was right, this (i)was(/i) surprising, but as quickly as the silence came, the crowd went into applause.

"What did he say?" Lightning asked Doc, making sure he was hearing things right. At this time, a young, light blue racecar rolled up from offstage up to next to his father. They looked almost exactly alike, except the younger one had no rear spoiler. Strip exited stage left, leaving the seventeen year old racecar to fend for himself.

He cleared his throat, and then went up to the mike and said, "Thank you, thank you." The applause finally died down.

"Now, I was just as surprised as all of you when I found out I would be the newest driver for Dinoco, but I'm not going to let it get to my head…I hope," he started, the audience chuckling a bit. "Following in my dad's footsteps won't be easy. I mean, 7 Piston Cups and 200 wins…I don't think anyone will ever top that; however, I'm going to do my best and make my father and Dinoco proud."

The audience cheered, and the awards ceremony was officially over. The actual party was across the street, and Doc, Lightning, and Sally did attend for a little bit, but left after an hour.

"Oh, come on, why can't we stay longer?" Lightning whined.

Once again, Doc didn't dignify that with a response. He was way too mad at him to say anything to him.

"Man, that was crazy," Sally interjected, trying to change the subject. "Lightning, how can you say you like those kind of parties. It's way too crowded!"

"Eh, you get used to it, I guess."

"We're staying at a motel, and then leaving first thing tomorrow morning," Doc said through gritted teeth.

Lightning didn't want to argue with him. It was too late for any kind of drama. "Fine. Lead the way."

Sally sighed. She knew if they didn't get along soon, there's no way they'd win the Piston Cup next year, or even if Doc will be his coach next season.

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A/N: Chapter 3 is completed! Will Lightning and Doc ever get along? How is Strip's son, Hank, going to do in the Piston Cup? Will Guido ever be found? Find out next chapter. Until then, goodbye.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yay! I have over 10 reviews (although 2 of them are my own)! Anyway, I am glad people are reading this, because things are about to heat up. Not sure what I mean? Well read then to find out…OR ELSE. Insert disclaimer here.

The Many Faces of Love: by SneakySneasel

Chapter Four: Midnight Sky

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The drive home was uncomfortably silent. Lightning and Sally drove up in front, while Doc lingered in the back. If they all weren't heading for the same town, he would be going off in the opposite direction to get as far away from Lightning as possible. The same could be said for Lightning. Sally thought they were behaving like children squabbling over something trivial, like children do.

"Lightning, just apologize to him. Even though what you did was sweet, it was still wrong, and we all know it. So Lightning, please apologize to him so we can move on."

"No," he responded surly, "Why should I apologize just because I didn't do what Doc told me to do for once? I did this for you, Sally."

"So you lied to everyone, including me, for this?"

Lightning was about to say, but chose to remain silent, though Sally knew what he would say.

The drive back to Radiator Springs continued without much conversation, but on the third and final day of travel, Lightning spoke up.

"Sally, I'm sorry I snapped at you like that. You know I didn't mean to hurt anyone, especially you…"

"I accept your apology, but it should be Doc who you should be apologizing to, not me."

"Yeah, but…he hates me now. After all I did, there's no way he'd accept my apology."

"I think I know someone who thinks otherwise," Doc suddenly spoke up. "Apology accepted," he said, though it didn't sound like he meant it. Not a second later, he added, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't be telling you what to do all the time, just on the racetrack."

"Apology accepted…whew, that was easier than I thought," Lightning said with relief. Things were still a bit tense between the two of them, but at least they didn't hate each other anymore.

"Thank goodness," Sally said, glad that the two guys were finally talking to each other, though it would take a lot more time to completely trust each other again.

Meanwhile, it was early morning back in Radiator Springs, and the shops were opened, even the Casa Della Tires. Many cars were stopping by the stores today. In fact, it was the busiest day since the town was put back on the map. Luigi seemed to be doing okay without Guido, although Luigi was still melancholy about Guido's sudden absence. Shirley was managing the Cozy Cone just fine for the past few days, and everything else looked just fine even without Doc, Lightning, and Sally.

A sleek blue car slowly crept along the road leading to Radiator Springs, constantly looking around for any other cars. Seeing none around for the moment, he went off and raced behind the nearest building with blinding speed. He checked around once again. He had been running away for the past three days, and was completely lost. Obviously he had never been in this area before. He looked up, wondering where he was hiding. The sign read, "Ramone's House of Body Art".

"Perfect," he mumbled, grinning. "I hope I can pull this off." He looked around again, and then sped inside.

Almost immediately, a nearby Ramone said, "Whoa, slow down there short stuff."

"Heh, sorry," the light blue said, laughing nervously. Suddenly, he asked, "You don't happen to be Ramone, do you?"

Ramone chuckled a bit, then answered, "Yeah, I'm Ramone. What can I get ya?"

"I'd like a full new paint job…please," he asked. He then added, "It's my 18th birthday today, and I've kind of been waiting for this day for a while. In fact, I was so excited, I couldn't wait, and all the other tattoo shops were closed, so I ended up driving to the next town, this one, and I guess by the time I got here, you were open…crazy story huh?"

It took a moment for the story to sink in. Afterwards, Ramone responded, "Man that is crazy. Just couldn't wait…must be pretty excited. Sure your mom is ok with this?"

"Oh yeah. In fact she's the one who told to go over to the next town. I think she wasn't seriously though now that I think of it. Oh well."

Ramone just nodded and handed him a booklet of the colors and styles he could choose from, and then went back to the back room to get the equipment set up since this was his first customer.

"Hmm…nah, nope, nada, no way, ick…" he kept on saying, trying to find something he liked. "Heh, can't believe he fell for my lie," he said confidently. "Didn't think it would work; thought I'd have to show my ID or something. Good thing I managed to paint over all my decals and sponsors...ah, found the perfect color."

"Did I hear 'perfect color'?" Ramone asked, coming back the spray gun and other things and doodads.

"You bet," the blue car responded. Fifteen minutes later, the spray painting was complete, and the previously light blue car was now black with plenty of white sparkles.

"Midnight Sky, nice choice little man," Ramone complimented.

"Thanks, but don't call me little man."

"Well, what am I supposed to call you then?" Ramone joked.

"How about by my first name? It's Hank by the way."

"Hank…I'll be sure to remember that."

"Alright, thanks. Now it's time to….go?" Hank couldn't budge. "Oh crud. This isn't good…"

"What seems to be the matter."

"Well, I'd have to say I'm out of gas," Hank said bitterly.

Ramone sighed. He certainly didn't see this coming. "Wait right there…like you have a choice…I'll get Mater."

"Who?" Hank asked, but before he could get an answer, Ramone was off to fetch Mater. "Guess I should've filled up sooner. Going three days of gas…you're going to run on empty soon," he sighed.

Not too much later, Ramone was back, with Mater behind him.

"Is this the guy?" Mater asked. Ramone nodded, and Mater immediately latched his hook onto Hank and dragged him out of the body art shop.

"This isn't good," Hank mumbled under his breath. "I just wanted to get in and get out," he sighed. "Guess I can just fill up and get out of here then."

Ramone returned to his shop while Mater towed Hank to Flo's V8 Café. Unfortunately for Hank, all the stations were occupied at the moment, and on top of that, there was a long line as well.

"Sorry buddy, looks like yer gonna haveta wait a bit," Mater said, looking back at Hank.

Hank was ready to throw a fit, but managed to calm down before that could happen.

Time passed, and the line slowly got shorter. The day continued as normal; nothing exciting seemed to be happening. Finally it was Hank's turn to get filled up, but just as he was about to get filled up, three familiar faces were spotted just over the horizon.

"It's Lightning!" Mater shouted, rushing off to see his best buddy.

"Lightning?" Hank questioned. "You mean that McQueen guy?"

"You bet. This town is where his racing headquarters is," answered a yellow SUV. "It's an honor just coming to this town now that Lightning lives here."

Hank knew little about McQueen since he had been over in Italy the past seven months. All he knew was that he helped out his dad in the tiebreaker race in L.A. He wasn't there to see it, but it was all over the news the day he got back.

Lightning, Doc, Sally were welcomed back by the entire town. Well, Doc and Lightning mostly were.

Mater asked question after question to Lightning about how the trip was. Lightning told Mater all about it, except the part where he and Doc fought.

Sally went over to the Cozy Cone. "Hey, Shirley, I'm back. Thanks for holding down the fort."

"No problem. I'm going to be here for a while; I might as well do something useful to the town."

"How's the search going?"

"Not too well…Sheriff and I haven't found a single clue in town. We even interrogated everyone in town. No luck…"

Sally frowned. Guido had been gone for nearly a week now, which meant he was long gone by now. The question was: Where?

Suddenly, a garbled voice came from Shirley.

"What the-?" Sally asked.

"It's my boss," she answered quietly. "Yeah…uh-huh…really? 10-4. Over and out."

"What's going on?"

"You know those crooks I was after?"

Sally nodded.

"Well they're heading towards Radiator Springs. They should pass by in a couple of minutes. Looks like you came back just in time."

"Oh…great. They won't hurt anyone here, will they?" Sally asked.

"Hopefully not. But I better alert Sheriff just in case. Let's go."

Shirley and Sally went over to Flo's, where everyone in town was for the return of Lightning and Doc. Shirley called Sheriff over. Almost immediately, Sheriff was shaking.

"Y-yeah?" he asked.

"Those criminals I was after…they're coming here any minute."

"They are?" Sheriff asked again, but before he could get an answer, four cars started speeding around town.

"Looks like they're here already…" Sheriff mumbled. "Come on, let's take care of this."

"Nobody move! This is a stick-up!" ordered a tricked out small, blue car. He, along with three other unwelcome cars, was facing everyone at the café.

"Nice one D.J," said a brown car with a turbocharger on his hood. "You're not really armed, are you?"

"No…but don't tell them, that," D.J. whispered, gesturing to the cars in the café, who had looks of terror on their faces.

"D.J.'s not really armed, and neither are the rest of us," Wingo spoke up, the obvious leader of the gang. "In fact, we don't plan on harming any one of you at all. However…we challenge your four best races to a little competition. If you guys win, we'll leave this town forever, but if we win…this town is ours to control. So, what do you say?"

"I say you're all under arrest," Sheriff ordered.

"And I say that ain't gonna happen, old timer. You see, while none of us are armed, we still have an ace up our sleeves. We planted a bomb somewhere in town last night while you were all sleeping, and if none of you comply with our demands, Radiator will be taken off the map…permanently.

"You sick freak…" Lightning spat out.

"Oh, so we have a challenger," Boost queried.

"You bet you do."

"Now Lightning…" Doc protested.

"Doc, I have to do this. It's either I race them, or this town gets blow up…I can't live with that."

"That wasn't what I was going to say. I just want to go first, that's all."

"Heh, sure thing Doc." Lighting laughed at Doc's eagerness, but wasn't surprised by this. Doc would do anything to protect this town, as well as all the other citizens of Radiator Springs.

"Well, that's two." D.J. stated.

"Make that three." Sally piped up as she went up to Lightning and Doc.

"Sally? But…" Lightning started.

"Hey, I beat you to Flo's that one time, remember? I think I can handle these chumps."

Lightning and Doc nodded.

"You guys still need one more victim…I mean teammate," said Boost.

Doc, Sally, and Lightning looked around, but everyone started backing up, not wanting to race these troublesome hooligans. They looked way to fast and furious to deal with for the average car.

"I'll race 'em," Hank suddenly said, as he approached the other three members of the Team Radiator Springs. "Actually, strike that. What I meant to say was: I'll beat 'em."

"Well, well, well, aren't we a little confident," Wingo said bitterly.

"Hey, it's not bragging when you can back it up," Hank stated, giving Wingo the evil eye.

Team Tricked Out went into a group huddle, and shortly came out.

"Okay racers, here's the dealio. The race will be 40 laps around Willie's Butte ; it's long enough for a decent race, but short enough so pit stops won't be necessary. Whoever finishes first wins for the entire team. Be there at a quarter to four. That gives all of us three hours to prepare. May the best car win," Wingo announced.

The gang left the café and drove off to Willie's Butte to practice. All the while, Wingo said, "Didn't think they'd actually agree to the race. What suckers! Anyway, here's the plan. Snot Rod, you get the geezer. D.J., you take the girl. Boost, you get Lightning. As for that little runt…he's mine."

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A/N: Yay, finally finished Chapter 4 after eleventy eight weeks! Why is Hank running away and why did he get a new paint job? What are those tricked out cars doing in Radiator Springs? Who will win the race? Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z…I mean, the next chapter of…this story!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Not much to say here. Just read, review, and enjoy. All original cars are property of Disney/Pixar, as well as events, places, and things that they first came up with before I could. Oh well.

The Many Faces of Love: by SneakySneasel

Chapter Five: The Race for Radiator Springs

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The hours before the big race were pretty intense. No one knew Hank, and no one even knew it was Hank Weathers. Team Tricked Out was practicing out on the butte, while Team Radiator Springs was at Flo's, getting to know their unknown teammate.

"Well Hank," Doc began, "Can you race?"

"Can I race? That's like asking if the sky is blue," Hank responded confidently.

"Now kid, don't get to ahead of yourself. Those folks were facing don't look like pushovers," Doc warned.

"I know, I know. They do look kind of tough, but half of racing is intimidation. The other half is skill, and I have plenty of both."

"Why are you here?" Doc suddenly asked.

Hank couldn't immediately answer that. "Well…to be honest…I'm running away. I got lost, and I ended up here. That's pretty much it."

"Why did you run away?" Sally asked.

"It's kind of a long story. I'm in a rut…I have a huge decision to make, one that'll probably change my life forever, not matter what I pick. I just couldn't make that decision, so I ran away."

Silence filled the café.

"Kid, you just can't-." Doc started.

"Run away from your problems. I know. You know how many times my dad's told me that? Too many…"

"But he's right," Lightning interjected. "You can't just run away from your family and leave them all behind."

"I know," Hank sighed and looked down. "It's just…I don't know what to do with my life. I'm 18 and I still can't decide what I want to do with my life."

"Well…perhaps we can help you with that," Sally said, trying to comfort Hank.

"But…not right now," Lightning said. "The race is in 15. We gotta be at the butte soon. We're going to win it."

"You bet." Hank said, his confidence back up again. "It's racing time."

Sally and Doc nodded, and the four of them left for Willie's Butte. When they got there, everyone else at town was there on the cliff, ready to watch their town be put on the line. Team Tricked Out was already at the starting line, getting impatient.

"What took you so long, slowpokes?" D.J. taunted.

"Yeah, if it took you this long to get here, you guys have no chance of winning this race." Boost added.

All eight cars were lined up at the start/finish line. Luigi was twenty feet ahead, holding the green flag. Sheriff stated his many rules for the race, which I can't remember any of them.

"One-a for the money, two-a for the show, three-a to get ready, and a four to go!" Luigi cheered, waving the green flag wildly and getting away from the racers.

Speaking of the racers, they took off with incredible speed, especially since this entire race was on dirt. They soon formed four rows of two, one of each team per row, exactly the way Wingo wanted it.

The first twenty laps were surprisingly tame. Team Tricked Out was holding its ground pretty well, seeing that they weren't built for off-road use, but overall they were losing. Lightning was in first, followed by Doc, Boost, D.J., Snot Rod, Sally, Wingo, and lastly, Hank. All of them were executing their turns just fine, but it looked like Wingo's plan wasn't being put to use. At this rate, either Lightning or Doc would win, which meant Radiator Springs would be safe.

Suddenly, Wingo said, "Now!" The members of Team Tricked Out went into position: D.J slowed down a bit until he was even with Sally, Snot Rod and Boost caught up to Doc and Lightning almost instantly, and Wingo didn't have to move at all. He was right besides Hank.

"Gotta focus…" Hank kept telling himself, but he wasn't, otherwise he'd probably be doing better. "What the?" Hank finally looked and saw that Team Tricked Out was up to no good. Then it happened.

Boost spun Lightning out. It happened so quick that no one except Boost noticed it. Lightning spun out into the cactus ditch, like in the movie. Snot Rod tried to do the same a few moments later, but Doc saw this coming and countered. Snot Rod lost control and also spun into the cacti. Boost sped up while Doc tried to catch up.

D.J. and Sally were knocking each other back and forth, and a lap after Lightning and Snot Rod were knocked out of the race; both Sally and D.J. miscalculated a turn and spun out into the cacti. The race was knocked down to four racers: Boost was well in the lead, Doc was at least six seconds behind, and Wingo and Hank were still not going after each other, not wanting to spin out like their respective teammates.

Soon there were ten laps left. By this time, Mater had towed everyone out of the cacti, all of them disappointed that they couldn't finish the race.

Five more laps passed, and not much changed. At this rate, Boost would win, which spelt doom for Radiator Springs. Fortunately for them, Boost ran out of gas, but wasn't about to go down without a fight. At the last second, he swerved right in front of Doc. Doc though, being the clever son of a gun he is, dodged Boost, leaving him in the dust. Now Doc was winning, but with Wingo and Hank constantly drafting on each other, they were catching up fast.

With three laps to go, Wingo was only a second from Doc, and Hank was one second behind him, but Wingo was soon side by side with Doc. Wingo quickly shoved Doc, trying to push him off the edge of the cliff. Unfortunately, it worked. Doc had nowhere to go but down, and he too fell into the cacti.

"No, Doc!" Lightning shouted. "This isn't good."

"It's all up to Hank now…" Sally muttered, not bearing to look at the race anymore.

Two laps were left, and Hank seemed too far behind Wingo to catch up.

"Come on…the whole town is counting on you. I can't let them down, even if I barely even know them," Hank mumbled to himself. "You are a racecar. Racecars win races, so win…this…race!" with that sudden shout, Hank finally found the focus he had needed to try and win the race. Instantly, he caught up to Wingo.

"Whoa…" Lightning was in awe.

"He had to be going at least 200," Doc stated, finally out of the ditch thanks to Mater. "On a dirt road, amazing."

But as fast as Hank's burst came, it left, and he was back down to normal speed, which gave Wingo the chance to catch back up to Hank.

They crossed the finish line dead even, but the race wasn't even over yet. There was still one more lap to go. Everyone was too nervous to move. Luigi didn't even wave the white flag. If cars had fingernails, they would be biting the right now. If they had hair, it would be standing on the backs of their necks, if they had necks…you get the idea.

The two of them glanced at each other for a very brief moment.

"Ha-ha kid, you don't stand a chance. This town is mine!" Wingo shouted.

"That's what you think," Hank responded.

The two of them were still even at the turn, but Wingo was on the inside, and he cut Hank off, forcing Hank to brake, and Wingo sped off.

You could see the looks of horror on everyone's face, but Hank was the most disappointed of them all.

The race was over. Wingo had won…at least that's what everyone thought. Everyone except Hank.

Hank suddenly took off like a bullet. You could actually see the wind whoosh by him. No one saw it coming.

"Hoo-ee!" Mater shouted. "He's goin' faster than one of dem rocket ships!"

Hank passed by Wingo like he was standing still on the final stretch of the track. Everyone was speechless.

The race was REALLY over now, and Hank was the winner. The small crowd went ecstatic, about as ecstatic a crowd of about a dozen could.

"He had to be going at least 215…on dirt," Doc mumbled to himself. "That's not an ordinary car."

All the cars in the town rushed towards Hank, unable to contain their gratitude towards him. Team Tricked Out though, wasn't so amused.

"You little punk," was all Wingo could say. "I'll get you for this." Guess he did have more to say.

"Hey, I said I would win…maybe you should've given up before the race even started to save time," Hank spat back.

"Ahem…" Sheriff interrupted. "I would like to make a quick announcement. Shirley and I searched the entire town during the race, and no bombs were located."

All the nearby cars just stared at the delinquents.

"Yeah…but…uh…" Wingo started, but immediately took off. The other three did the same, and they all vanished over the horizon in a brief moment.

"Don't worry about them," Hank said. "They'll be back."

"And how do you know?" Doc asked, concerned.

"Trust me, they'll be back. It's called revenge. Besides, I have a bad feeling that they wanted this town for a good reason. But that'll be a long while from now. Come on everybody, let's celebrate!"

Doc was still suspicious, but chose to let it slide…for now.

Everyone made their way back to the café, even the non-regulars of Radiator Springs, to celebrate.

"Drinks on me!" Flo stated.

Ramone went over to Flo and whisperer to her, "Tonight's Friday, you know what that means?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's Karaoke Night!" Flo shouted, unable to contain her excitement. It had been a pretty exciting day. Flo went to get the karaoke stuff while everyone else had a drink.

"Hey kid, where'd you learn to drive like that?" Lighting asked. "I haven't seen someone drive that fast since Strip Weathers. It's like you're related to him or something."

"Heh…yeah, but I'm not." Hank said nervously. "I'm sure it'd be cool if I was, huh?"

"Oh yeah, that would be sweet," Lightning answered. Hank sighed in relief that his cover wasn't blow.

"So are you going to stay?" Sally asked. "I mean, you're running away…so are you just going to leave first thing in the morning and move on?"

"Actually," he said, looking around at the town and the cars, "I just might stay here another day or two…or ten," Hank answered, pretending to be unsure.

"Okay! It's ready," Flo said over the microphone. "Testing, one, two, three."

"I'll go first!" Lightning said, going up to the microphone. Everyone started groaning.

"Lightning, please spare us. You know what happened last week," Sally pleaded. "I still have nightmares."

"Aw, come on Sally. What's the worst that could happen?"

(4 minutes later…)

"MY EYES!" Sally screamed. Most everyone else was screaming, except Doc, who wasn't even paying attention. He was too deep in thought to pay attention to Lightning's horrific singing.

"How could he go that fast…Lightning can barely go over 200, let alone 215. There's something fishy with that kid. I better keep an eye on him," Doc thought, and then he went back to his place, tired from the race.

A few other cars went up, but most were too nervous, even though they knew they could do better than Lightning. Just about anyone could do better than Lighting.

"Well, is that it?" Flo asked. "Because I gotta close soon. It's getting late."

"I'll go," Hank announced. Everyone stared at him.

Hank wheeled up tot the karaoke machine and flipped through the list of songs and pressed the play button once he found one he liked.

"This should be interesting," Lightning whispered to Sally. "Bet you five bucks he's worse than me."

"You're on," Sally responded, and the bet was made. "By the way, everyone's better than you at singing."

"What? You don't really mean that do you?"

"Um…yeah I do," Sally grinned. Lighting did the opposite.

Hank wheeled up to the karaoke machine and flipped through the selection of songs until he found one that he like and knew well.

A moment later, the music started playing, and Hank began to sing, but unlike Lightning, Hank sang…well. Really well. If cars could stand, they would've given Hank a standing ovation when he finished.

Oh, by the way, Hank sang Dierks Bentley's "Every Mile a Memory." Look up the lyrics; it's an awesome song.

"First you race like a pro, and now you sing like a star…is there anything you can't do?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, make my dad proud," Hank wanted to say, but didn't have the parts to. (A/N: Parts guts, so yeah)

Instead, Hank said, "Boy am I tired…I should probably get to bed or something? Is that Cozy Cone place open?"

"Oh…sorry Hank, it's kind of… all full tonight," Sally said disappointedly. "Perhaps Sarge could give you a place to stay. He runs an SUV boot camp, so there's plenty of open barracks…"

"Eh, that's fine. As long as I'm not outside freezing, I'll be okay."

"Careful kid," Lightning warned, "Sometimes Sarge can be a little…"

"A little what?" Sarge interrupted, giving Lightning a dirty look.

"Um…nothing, heh," Lightning laughed nervously.

"Right…anyway, it's closing time folks," Flo declared. "Come on, get to bed or somethin'."

So everyone said their goodnights and went to the place that they slept, because they don't sleep on beds. They are way too heavy for that.

Hank was the second last to fall asleep, mostly because he had too much on his mind, but the barrack wasn't exactly comfortable either.

Doc was the last to go to bed with more on his mind than the rest of Radiator Springs combined.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this mystery…"

A/N: Sorry the past few chapters took so long. I'm super busy with schoolwork, and it's tough balancing both fun and work (fun being the writing fan fiction and the work being, well…work) Anyway, I'll figure things out eventually. Until then, read and review.


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